efending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has appointed Amelie Mauresmo as his new coach for the grass-court season. Murray has been without a coach since March, when he parted ways with eight-time major winner Ivan Lendl.

Lendl had coached Murray to Olympic gold at the London 2012 Games, as well as the US Open title the same year and last year's Wimbledon crown. Murray, 27, will defend that crown this month following a semi-final exit at the French Open on Friday under the Mauresmo's guidance.

It is rare indeed that a woman is appointed to coach such a top-level male tennis player and Mauresmo admitted the call came as a surprise.

“Andy contacted me a few weeks ago and we started to talk about this possibility to be working together," she said. "It was a little bit of a surprise, to be honest. It’s not really something that I was thinking [of] doing when I stopped being a tennis player."

Of the gender issue, the two-time Grand Slam champion added: "That's not my big concern right now. I want to help Andy. It's the only thing that I have in mind right now. I know it's a major event in the world of tennis - in the world of sports as well. It's a professional goal for me - this is what I'm interested in.

"It’s probably something that you have to ask him at some point, why he made this choice. We all know his mother was a big part of his tennis career. I think he’s maybe looking for something different, about emotions and sensitive things. It’s not really interesting for me, this part of the story, to be honest. All I’m interested in is to be able to help him in his goals. That’s about it. The rest is the story is for you to write, I guess. For me, it’s a challenge. I want to take it.”